Material Invention

Well, I made a small world in an armchair. The perceived scale is changed inside the chair in the same manner that children envision a smaller world inside their own when they sometimes play.
Changing of the objects is accomplished by the relations of between the objects when juxtaposed. Essentially, making a tableau in which the objects live creates a change of the object's meaning.


Wrapped- chair
Luminous- turtle
Gnarly- wooden bearded man(god)
Edible- gum
Wicked- devil saltshaker
Alive-unicorn
Unexpected sound- Eric Clapton
Spilled- wool roving
Smell- dirty sock
Fleeting- candle light
Astonishing- communion cup
Scattered- tools
Transformed by wind- paper
Soft- pillow
Buried- gun
Cold- man with cap
Distasteful-praying saltshakers
Stretched- rule
Smeared- deodorant
Awkward- glass vase

Text Commentary: The Story It Tells

The article was lengthy and somewhat repetitive, which is going to happen when the use of structuralist thinking is involved. All the time pointing out that the artist is just as important to the meaning of the work as the work itself. Of course, this can be true but it is not always the case. What is more clearly evident is the attempt of foregrounding the individual artist by the artist in modern art(starting at least by Cezanne) . Essentially, there is a struggle for the artist to show that he is relevant to today's society. If you believe the view that visual art is a form of language, which is the view of the article, then the belief that the viewer could interpret the work using extension and nullify the meaning the artist intended or rather imbued be happenstance is also valid. So, the informational intention of the artist could in fact be irrelevant, because the viewer is going to create his own meaning. The artists that created so many works that are today anonymous(i.e. Greek, Egyptian, MesoAmerican) have no bearing on the interpretation of the meaning. That being said, the reason the unknown artists having no effect on meaning is the lack of information about the artist themselves. This lack of knowledge simply creates a block on the amount of extension the viewer can institute.

The more the viewer believes he knows the more interpretations the viewer can make. Lack of knowledge about the artist can only create a bottleneck in the interpretation and the knowledge of the artist can only increase interpretations.

Class Commentary: 08-01-16

Field trip to the McColl Center.

It's always been interesting to me how most ideas expressed when expressed can be used to discredit the intent of the statement. All ideas are subjective in the end and there is no objectivity in any person or artist's statement. Susan Harbage's statement:



She links the longevity of objects with their importance in society. Fibers by nature have shorter lifespans than that of certain other materials. Which by default of her statement, these more permanent objects are linked to men and are superior to the temporal. How can you say distinction is appropriate for something that has been simply rescued from the ravages of time? The undervalued textile is perhaps mostly caused by the practical(i.e. most textiles created are functional) and the shifts in taste(tapestries don't have the same charm they once had for some). That is if textiles are in fact undervalued. Those that made them likely used them in the way they felt was appropriate. If they would have been put in a gallery and sold it would have betrayed the idea of the object's purpose.

All the tearing I just did may seem negative but in fact Susan Harbage's work is some of the my best liked work I've seen at the McColl Center. The embroidered pieces are visually dynamic and extremely compelling. Her strengths are in the formal rather than conceptual. The works with the labels and the printed banners are weak and tried to capitalize on magnitude to make the viewer "see" the art. Both of those pieces are not ideally displayed, but even under ideal conditions there is little interest contained.

Class Commentary: 08-01-14

Setup of the blog was discussed today. Writing and note taking are things I generally try to avoid. Not that I dislike writing but I don't normally have time for it. Being part of the course requirements will hopefully act as a catalyst to allow me to explore writing(explanation of is to complex). I may use this opportunity of the blog to also post the happenings from my sculpture projects class. I'm sure my thought processes and sculptures will begin to relate as we go forward.

When Malena discussed the money making options and how we are academically trained artist reminded me of conversations with an instructor I once had years ago. He told me once that i didn't have to go to school to be a working studio artist. He also told me to go to a school with an active sculpture program; I didn't do either of what he said I should or could do. Instead, now I Work and attend UNCC part time. As the book In the Making states there is no one way to be an artist.

Class Commentary: 08-01-09

It was the first day of class and not very much was discussed besides the objective and schedule of the class. The accumulation project is something I am looking forward to making. Concepts will help motivate me towards more content based sculpture, which is perhaps my natural state. I have always been an object maker and have fought with two sides of my mind. One side would like to make mostly formal objects(i.e. wheel thrown ceramics or visually dynamic sculpture) and a deeper part wants to explore ideas in simply made objects with aesthetics akin to early conceptualism.

Accumulation: Week #2

This evidence was serendipitous and the capture was unexpected until the situation presented itself. It rarely snows here. Hopefully I will be able to have other situations lead to more unexpected subjects. Collection of the evidence has lead me to think that I should try to step up my methods to be more in sync with police or other gatherers of evidence. Of course, I could look for methods and, for lack of a better term, "style" on the internet. I work with the wife of the sheriff of Lincoln county so I will see if I can find out methods through this source first. As far as content, I believe it will grow more complex as the collecting goes forward.

Imprint of an Angel Upon the Snow

Accumulation: Week #1

The interest in Shan Raoufi's project lays largely in the in the element of the variable. Reactions were recorded by the artist in a vulnerable state, both physically and emotionally. To me the importance is the overall interaction and how the they are received by the varying social strata.

Irene Chan's project deals with product packaging and retail practice which is not normally seen in the conscious mind of the consumer, Essentially, creating evidence that can be seen in a form that is removed from its primary existence. Altering the view of the original source material is interesting.

I plan to collect evidence of angels. The evidence will only be seen in written or photo documentation. Collecting will take the evidence one step further from its origin. Where evidence is normally used to prove something true, mine is to show a rather ridiculous formation of proof. Perhaps it will be mocking towards the popular idea of angels.

Portrait of an Angel

Text Commentary: Try to be an "artist'

Explaining why and what an artist is is of little importance. I do not consider myself an artist and likely never will consider it. By default of society my path will be laid.

Often it is that which is not said that is most important.

So called "creative options" as Linda Weintraub puts it; the artist has choices that have never been available. Of course just as in the guild system, today, to reach the desired outcome one must still put in the appropriate input. Though there are today more democratized forms of art such as, graphic design, due to the growth of middle class. Though in a way, it is still the few that pay for it by gleaning money from the bottom. Just because the government or corporation pay for it and put it in galleries for the commoners to see doesn't make it different than church commissions during the medieval times.

Having restrictions on the possibilities for creative representation of ideas is the very reason cultural progress is made. Expansion of ideas take place where there are no preconceived notion of the possibilities for expansion, otherwise the idea must have had already taken hold. Today the common thought is that all possibilities for change have been executed. Of course, that cannot be the case.

The text seems to romanticize about the contemporary artist and art, by explaining how today is grander by the diversification of ideas that art and artist represent. This viewpoint is egocentric and dismisses the past as merely the stuff that happened before me. Art is a product of environment not that of the individual.